Alcohol responsible for one in 20 deaths worldwide

2018-09-24 12:59

Alcohol kills 3 million people worldwide each year -- more than AIDS, violence and road accidents combined.

By Nina LARSON

Geneva (AFP) -- Alcohol kills three million people worldwide each year -- more than AIDS, violence and road accidents combined, the World Health Organization said Friday, adding that men are particularly at risk.

The UN health agency's latest report on alcohol and health pointed out that alcohol causes more than one in 20 deaths globally each year, including drink driving, alcohol-induced violence and abuse and a multitude of diseases and disorders.

Men account for more than three quarters of alcohol-related deaths, the nearly 500-page report found.

"Far too many people, their families and communities suffer the consequences of the harmful use of alcohol through violence, injuries, mental health problems and diseases like cancer and stroke," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.

Drinking is linked to more than 200 health conditions, including liver cirrhosis and some cancers.

Alcohol abuse also makes people more susceptible to infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, HIV and pneumonia, the report found.

The some three million alcohol-related deaths registered globally in 2016 -- the latest available statistics -- account for 5.3 percent of all deaths that year.

For young people, the numbers are even more alarming, with a full 13.5 percent of all deaths among 20-29-year-olds considered to be alcohol-related, the study found.

'Unacceptably high'

In comparison, HIV/AIDS was responsible for 1.8 percent of global deaths in 2016, road injuries accounted for 2.5 percent and violence for 0.8 percent, it said.

The latest numbers are lower than those in WHO's last report on global alcohol consumption, published in 2014.

He pointed to the introduction of a minimum price for vodka and an alcohol advertising ban.

Sport sponsorships

WHO however warned that outside of Europe, alcohol consumption has continued to rise, especially in Asia, with China and India registering significant hikes.

It urged countries to do more to counter harmful drinking and to reach a goal of cutting global consumption by 10 percent between 2010 and 2025.

"Based on all trends and predictions, we can expect an increase in overall alcohol consumption and alcohol-related harm in the next 10 years," Poznyak warned, stressing that "this will definitely result in increased number of deaths and suffering around the world."

WHO is urging countries to tax alcohol and ban advertising of such beverages to reduce consumption.

Poznyak said blocking alcohol companies from sponsoring big sporting events could make a big difference.

"These events are being watched by millions and sometimes billions of young people, and it's impossible to prevent exposure to this kind of advertising to those who are under the legal age," he said.